| Ermanaric | |
|---|---|
| King of theGreuthungian | |
| Reign | c. 296–376 |
| Successor | Vithimiris |
| Born | c. 291 |
| Died | 376 (Aged about 85) |
| House | Amali |
Ermanaric[a] (died 376) was aGreuthungianking who before theHunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion ofOium, the part ofScythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings ofAmmianus Marcellinus, and inGetica by the sixth-century historianJordanes. He also appears in a fictionalized form in laterGermanic heroic legends.
Modern historians disagree on the size of Ermanaric's realm.Herwig Wolfram postulates that he at one point ruled a realm stretching from theBaltic Sea to theBlack Sea as far eastwards as theUral Mountains.[1]Peter Heather is skeptical of the claim that Ermanaric ruled all Goths except theTervingi, and furthermore points to the fact that such an enormous empire would have been larger than any known Gothic political unit, that it would have left bigger traces in the sources and that the sources on which the claim is based are not nearly reliable enough to be taken at face value.[2]
The first element of the nameErmanaric appears to be based on theProto-Germanic root*ermena-, meaning 'universal'.[3] The second element is from the element*-rīks,Gothicreiks, meaning 'ruler'; this is found frequently in Gothic royal names.[4]
According to Ammianus, Ermanaric was "a most warlike king" who eventually committedsuicide, faced with the aggression of theAlani and of theHuns, who invaded his territories in the 370s. Ammianus says he "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions".[5][6] Ammianus also says that after Ermanaric's death, a certainVithimiris was elected as the new king.
According toJordanes'Getica, Ermanaric ruled the realm ofOium. Jordanes describes him as a "GothicAlexander" who "ruled all the nations ofScythia andGermania as they were his own". Jordanes also states that the king put to death a young woman named Sunilda (Svanhildr) with the use of horses, as punishment for her husband's treason. Thereupon her two brothers, Sarus andAmmius, severely wounded Ermanaric, leaving him unfit to defend his kingdom from Hunnic incursions. Variations of this legend had a profound effect on medieval Germanic literature, including that of England andScandinavia (seeJonakr's sons). Jordanes claims that he successfully ruled theGoths until his death aged 110.
Edward Gibbon gives the version of Ammianus and Jordanes as historical, reporting that Ermanaric successively conquered, during a reign of about 30 years from AD 337 to 367, thewest-goths, theHeruli, theVenedi and theAestii, establishing a kingdom which ranged from theBaltic to theBlack Sea;[7] and died aged 110 of a wound inflicted by the brothers of a woman whom he had cruelly executed for her husband's revolt, being succeeded by his brotherVithimiris.[8]
Ermanaric appears in a variety of differentGermanic heroic legends.
Jǫrmunrekkr is the Old Norse form of the name.[9] Ermanaric appears inAnglo-Saxon andScandinavian legend. In the former, the poemBeowulf focused on the image of "Eormenric's wiles and hatred".[10] He is described in the tenth century poemDeor as a powerful but treacherous king: "We have heard of the wolfish mind of Eormanric: far and wide he ruled the people of the realm of the Goths: he was a cruel king".[9]
The death ofSvanhildr (Svanhildr Sigurðardóttir) and Ermanaric's (Jörmunrek) subsequent death at the hands ofJonakr's sons occupies an important place in the world of Germanic legend. The tale is retold in many northern European stories, including the Norse poemsRagnarsdrápa,Hamðismál andGuðrúnarhvöt, theProse Edda and theVolsunga Saga; the NorwegianRagnarsdrápa; the DanishGesta Danorum; and the GermanNibelungenlied[11]andAnnals of Quedlinburg.
In the NorseThidreks Saga, translated fromLow German sources, Ermanaric is ill-advised by his treacherous counsellor Bicke, Bikka, Sifka, or Seveke (who wants revenge for the rape of his wife by Ermanaric),[12] with the result that the king puts his own wife to death for supposed adultery with his son;[13] he is thereafter crippled by his brothers-in-law in revenge.[14]
In theMiddle High German poemsDietrichs Flucht, theRabenschlacht, andAlpharts Tod aboutDietrich of Bern, Ermanaric is Dietrich's uncle who has driven his nephew into exile.[15] The early modernLow German poemErmenrichs Tod recounts a garbled version of Ermanaric's death reminiscent of the scene told in Jordanes and Scandinavian legend.[16]
Ermanaric'sGothic name is reconstructed as*Airmanareiks. It is recorded in the various Latinized forms:
In medieval Germanic heroic legend, the name appears as:
Since the nameHeiðrekr may have been confused with Ermanaric[citation needed] through folk etymology, Ermanaric is possibly identifiable withHeiðrekr Ulfhamr of theHervarar saga.
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